Friday, May 23, 2008

Celebrating Women's Friendship and Food

As women, we're usually responsible for getting dinner on the table; often we don't take the time to thoroughly enjoy the meals and feasts we create for our families. And, between work and family obligations, it's hard for us to find time to get together with our girlfriends. Yet, friendships need nurturing and attention in order to thrive and grow. One of the best ways to enjoy good food and good friends is to set aside one day a month for a women-only get together.

While it's fun to go out with your girlfriends, it's really more relaxing to meet at someone's house. You can let your hair down, laugh as loudly as you'd like, and not have to worry about splitting the tab. Here, then are five great ideas for "girlfriend time."

1. An afternoon of pie. As women, baking together is a tradition that goes back for generations. Spend a Saturday afternoon baking a pie with your friends. Each person can lend a hand in making the pie, and then everyone can have a glass of wine and catch up while the pie's baking. Once it's out of the oven, you can all share in eating your creation.

2. An evening of bunco. If you've never played bunco, you won't understand the sheer fun and silliness of this dice game. You can look it up online, but all it takes is twelve competitive women, nine dice, scratch paper, and six pencils. My bunco group has been playing once a month for about eight years now, and it takes a force of nature to keep us from our monthly game. We take turns hosting the evening and making a pre-game dinner for our friends. Each of us has our specialties and we all look forward to Lynn's famous enchiladas, to Sherry's chicken and broccoli casserole, and Cindy's barbecue tri-tip. Each of us hosts one month a year, and the other eleven months we get to enjoy each other's cooking.

3. An afternoon of tea. Tea parties enjoyed a resurgence in popularity a few years ago, and in our over-caffeinated world there are still plenty of reasons to relax over tea and crumpets (or scones, or cucumber sandwiches). An afternoon tea party with friends is all the more fun if everyone dresses the part and you can come up with some lace doilies to add to the decor. Don't forget the teacakes!

4. A dinner club. A dinner club is perfect for girlfriends who are serious foodies. Set aside one night each month and alternate hosting duties, then select a cuisine for each month. The hostess provides the main course, and assigns a recipe to each of the other members, who make the dishes and bring them in this sophisticated potluck. It can work with four friends, but six is the perfect number.

5. Brunch with a twist. Almost by definition, brunch is a wonderful, leisurely meal. To keep the stress level down, make it a potluck - with a twist. Like the Food Network's "Iron Chef America" series, come up with a unique ingredient and ask each friend to use that ingredient in her dish. If you have adventuresome friends, make the secret ingredient something exotic. You can even have each person assign scores to each dish based on taste, plating, and originality in the use of the secret ingredient. As they say on the show, "Whose cuisine will reign supreme?"

Women, friends, and food are an unshakable combination. Make time for friends and food, and you'll nurture both yourself and your friends. Bon appetit!

See also related blog:

http://zaidopink.blogspot.com/
http://zaidowhite.blogspot.com/
http://zaidoblack.blogspot.com/
http://zaidoblues.blogspot.com/
http://zaidored.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Drug Testing Regulations In US And Its Requirements

The US government has provided certain regulations to prevent the illegal drug usage in various situations. They permit and regulate the drug testing programs for every individual including, employees, motor drivers, convicts, and others in various situations. As per the regulations given by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Transmit Administration (FTA), drug testing can be performed at roadside to check the drivers using rapid testing devices.

Drug Testing Regulations of DOT
The DOT rules include procedures for urine drug testing and breathe alcohol testing. In the coming years, the implementation of drug and alcohol testing requires various aspects including the changes in testing technology, and the issuance of a number of written interpretations, required OST (Office of the Secretary) to review and revise the rules. The latest rules of the OST were published in the year 2000, which included these aspects with the involvement of public sector.

Regulations of OTETA (Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act)
The regulations under OTETA requires drug and alcohol testing for the transportation employees in aviation, truck, railroads, mass transit, pipelines and other transportation industries for their safe and sensitive driving. DOT publishes rules on who should conduct drug tests, how to conduct those tests and what procedures to use when testing. These regulations cover all transportation employers, safety-sensitive transportation employees and service agents, which counts about 12.1 million people.

Requirements of Drug Testing Regulations
The following are some of the drug testing regulations that are provided by the government bodies of US:
• Before suspecting an employee in an organization, the supervisors have to undergo a minimum of 1-hour training program on signs and symptoms of drug abuse. In case of alcohol testing regulation they have to undergo additional 1-hour training.
• Every candidate applying for an interview has to take a pre-employment drug test and will be qualified if they pass the test.
• The existing employees are required to get the drug testing, to perform their safe and sensitive proceedings. It even states that an employee will be tested randomly when they are on duty.
• The person who gets a drug-test should empty their pockets and show all their belongings to assure that there are no substances that may tamper the test sample.
• For some jobs the applicants has to provide background verification. The company contacts their previous employers and asks to provide paperwork and releases.
The transportation employees require to take the alcohol and drug testing, who are required to have a CDL (Commercial Driving License).

This information gives you an idea about drug testing regulations and their requirements in United States. These regulations are collected from certain organizations like, DOT, OTET, FTA and etc.